Wednesday, January 04, 2012

"Our job is to buy other people’s mistakes and remarket them as opportunities." --Mark Ginsberg, President, CWC Inventories.

The company a long and prestigious history in the closeout industry. Frank Ginsberg, a discount retail pioneer, founded the original business in 1973. He made it possible for manufacturers to rid themselves of problem inventories quietly, without fanfare and affect to their mainstay distribution channels. Now, nearly four decades later, Closeouts With Class remains a global leader.

I sat down with their team to build a Brandtag Strategic Planning Crusade. This case study will dissect their award-winning philosophy, culture and approach to human interaction:"Closeouts were historically thought of as junk," they said. "But everything we have is gorgeous. Even though we never fall in love with our own inventory."

"The only thing classier than our products is our people," Frank said. "Their excitement makes customers want to buy, and their commitment gives customers confidence to buy again and again."

"We're not paralyzed by the fear of failure," Frank said. "When you believe in the business, you overcome everything. Besides, the first hundred years are the hardest."

Whether it's a recession, a flood, a shift in the industry or a lost palette of goods, CWC knows that you can't eat like an elephant and poop like a bird.

"Because we're willing to share in almost every direction, we build a bridge to our competitors," Jim said. "We keep them in business. And by treating them like partners, they become a power source. If it was just us, it would be hard to survive."

According to Mark, "We wanted the typo in there to make sure our customers didn't think we were perfect."

"A few years ago, part of our warehouse collapsed and flooded after a big storm. I was the lucky one who go to dive down under six feet of water to unplug the drain," Tom laughed.

"When we share a personal side of ourselves," Bruce said, "it makes customers want to pay us. If you want them to spend, you’ve got to bend."

"Do us a favor once and we'll be loyal forever," said Jean. "We've had employees make sales from the nursery home and receive commission checks from the grave!"